If you only pay attention to the headlines, here’s what you may have read:

“Yes, College Students, Hookahs Are Bad For You”

“The Dangers of Just One Evening Of Hookah Smoking”

“Hookah Use Tied To Exposure To Cancer-Causing Compounds”

As folks who enjoy the occasional evening of hookah, these headlines freaked us out. We thought we should share our findings with you, because maybe you’re a little freaked out too.

The study referenced by these recent articles involve asking regular hookah smokers to abstain from smoking for a week, and then to provide a urine sample. The participants then spent an evening smoking hookah and gave another sample at the end.

At the end of the experiment, after the participants’ evening of smoking, they had 73 times higher nicotine levels and 14 percent to 91 percent higher levels of breakdown products of volatile organic compounds that are known to cause cancer, heart and lung diseases.

What does this mean for those of us who want to smoke hookah every once in a while?

It means if you’re worried about smoke in your lungs or carcinogens in cigarettes, hookahs should not replace them as an alternative source of nicotine – that’s what e-cigarettes are for. It means we shouldn’t encourage children and teenagers to smoke hookah.

But, we continue to live by the phrase, “everything in moderation.” We enjoy an evening with friends, sitting around the hookah like it’s a peace pipe, participating in an ancient middle eastern tradition. We find the value in it to be almost spiritual in nature.

If you smoke hookah on the reg, you should also consider checking out Xhale Steam Stones. Xhale Steam Stones are tobacco-free and allow you to use the hookah as a vaporizer, so you can avoid the carcinogens that come with tobacco smoke. They come in plenty of different flavors, and we carry them right here at The Glass House. Come visit us today!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2014 at 5:21 pm and is filed under Blog.
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